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February 18, 2006
Sometimes I Don't Want to Know What Looms Ahead
Yesterday afternoon, I had been given a warning as to what this morning's long run was going to entail. It wasn't exactly what I had planned. My plan had been to just run long, like 2:15 to 2:20. J had other plans for me. Most of it was what I had been expecting, a long easy run. He had announced on Thursday night that when we run on the out and back course, it should be our longest and easiest run. Well, yesterday, I was informed that I was going to do the out and back and then I had a special treat, a mile on the track at half-marathon race pace. Yeah!! How fun!
Waking up this morning was not too bad. I made sure to move around some so that my legs could wake up a bit. It was definitely on the brisk side, actually right around the projected high for the day. It's one of those days that they don't expect to really warm up at all as the day goes on. The wind that had been whipping around yesterday had died down some, it must have been what brought in the colder temperatures.
The group this morning was a decent size, but most of the group was only running about 90 minutes. My tri buddy J was there, so he ran with me all the way out to the turn around. My legs felt flat and dead, to put it mildly. I'm pretty sure that the fast uphill miles on Thursday night were my undoing. I knew that a dead feeling day had to be coming sometime soon, the mileage has to catch up at some point. We stayed with the group for about the first six miles before they turned off and we kept on going. J had to use the bathroom at the halfway point. It just made more sense for him to go when there was a bathroom available then to wait and have to go in the woods. The run was supposed to be easy and slow, so it wasn't that big of deal. I took those three minutes to stretch out my hamstrings, calves, and quads-the tightness culprits.
The stretching break helped immensely as my legs did perk up a little bit on the way back. Even with all of the climbing on the return, we ran about two minutes faster without even really trying. The plan was to run around 7:45s on the way out and right around 7:30 on the way back. J said it wasn't that big of a deal to run 7s, but we wouldn't do the special treat at the end if that was the case. We were a little bit faster than the projected paces, but not so fast as to defeat the purpose. The entire way back I was hemming and hawing about doing the mile on the track. I felt like I could keep running and running, but to do a fast mile might be the nail in my coffin.
When we got onto the track, J was there walking. I told him that I wasn't sure if it was a good idea to run the fast mile. I had been going through waves of feeling like I could do it and waves of thinking that I would never even be able to break 7, much less run a 6:15. The other J was whining that he couldn't do it without me, so the final decision was to at least start the mile and if it really wasn't happening, to just run again. It turns out, that I started a little too fast, but who can tell what a 94 second quarter really feels like after running 16 miles? J had me lead the first 800, then he took off on the third quarter and we ran the same pace on the fourth quarter. He did a 6:12 and I managed my 6:15. It hurt like hell. Another three quarters of a mile and we hit just over 18 miles.
I went to the gym after the run with the intent to ride the bike, stretch and lift. I did ride the bike very easily for half an hour. The, I did stretch well, but my legs still felt beat up. I didn't feel much like lifting. I was tired and just not in the mood. I did one exercise and decided that it wasn't going to happen. I remembered what happened over the summer when I felt this way and insisted on lifting after the run and just being beat up for days afterward.
I have been searching for new black shoes to wear for work since the black slingbacks I have give me blisters accross all of my toes. Over the past week, five stores have been strikeouts, so I ventured into the mall. Not only did I find a snazzy pair of black pumps (not interview-ee, not completely going out kind) AND a pair of tall black suede boots. Not like I need the boots, but I wear my tall black leather boots all the time, so I will wear them. Plus, they were on sale for $33 down from $169-I just can't resist sales.
Tonight is a party that one of the guys in our group has every year. It's always a fun time, although getting dressed for it is a bit hard. I've been prepping the appetizers that I'm bringing all day. Hopefully the one recipe that I'm trying for the first time turns out well.
Posted by Blondie at February 18, 2006 03:36 PM